Chapter 7

Ed's POV

"Shower?" She mumbled, holding up her clothes. "I haven't cleaned up in a few days." I let go of Winry's arm slowly, nodding in the process. Unfortunately for me, my face was quickly turning red.

"I-I'll be downstairs then…" I murmured to her, and she went into the bathroom, closing the door slowly behind her.

Two things nagged at my mind.

The first was that she was going to be alone in the bathroom again, which she could try to attempt suicide again. I didn't like that at all.

The second thing was that she was going to take a shower… God, I have such a perverted mind… Yeah, I think anyone could figure out the rest on what I'm thinking about.

I waited a few moments in the hall, still pink, waiting for the sound of water running. Just to make sure she was actually doing what I thought she was. Soon after, I stumbled down the stairs and into the kitchen. I've never actually attempted to make a decent meal, but I was determined to try. I started taking things out of the fridge and cupboard.

Then I realized what if Winry's not even hungry? I would waste so much food if she wasn't going to eat it…

She needs to eat more anyway. I suppose I should ask her though. Winry's probably out of the shower by now. She's pretty infamous for her quick clean-ups.

I climbed the flight of stairs again, and walked down the hall to the bathroom. I knocked on the door a few times, and eventually heard a small, "Yes?" Coming from the other side. I swung the door open, starting to speak.

"Hey Winry, did you still want… to… eat…" I stuttered.

Crap, she WASN'T done taking a shower. I hadn't bothered to listen for the running water before I went in.

The way the light shone in the room made Winry's silhouette perfectly visible from the other side of the curtain. I saw the shadow of her legs, curves, round…

I felt something warm running down from my nose. I touched my upper lip lightly, and soon discovered that I was having a nosebleed.

Shit… Way to be perverted, Edward Elric. Especially for your best friend… She has grown up a lot since we were kids…

I quickly averted my eyes to the floor, and plugged my currently bleeding nose. She started speaking quietly, "Uh, yeah… I'll be out in a second."

I just nodded in response, even though she couldn't see it in the first place. Using the floor tiles as guidance back out the door, I made my way back out, and closed the door swiftly.

I sighed heavily and closed my eyes, still plugging my bloody nose. "Winry…" I murmured her name to myself. I heard the phone ring from downstairs and went to go get it. I managed to find a rag lying on the floor as I made my way to the ringing telephone, so I used it to soak up the blood.

I picked the receiver up, sounding very nasal-y and stuttering a bit, "H-Hello, Rockbell Residence?"

A woman's voice chimed on the other end. "Hello, this is the Central Police Department with a message for Winry Rockbell. May I speak to her?" Central Police department? What do they want, and why are they calling Winry?

"She's… Busy at the moment," I told the lady, bringing the image of Winry's silhouette back into my mind. "Can I take a message?" I continued to plug my nose.

"Do you know Ms. Rockbell personally? I can't leave a message as important as this with a stranger." She spoke in monotone over the phone.

"I'm her childhood friend, Edward Elric." I spouted over the phone. How can such a person think that I would be a stranger?

"Yes, well then. If you could please tell Ms. Rockbell that we believe we've got some leads on the perpetrator and that someone from the Central government would like to talk to her again."

"Leads for what? What perpetrator?" My tone changed from normal, to concern.

"According to these records, it appears Ms. Rockbell has been assaulted and raped in Central a few months ago."

Oh my God…

Raped?

…

I stayed silent, not knowing what to say anyway.

"Now if you could please pass on the message to her, and tell her to call this office, that would be most appreciated. Good-bye." I nodded into the phone, and just stood there.

Not moving.

Not saying anything.

Just repeating those words over and over again in my head. I heard a click on the phone, and the line went dead. I dropped the rag onto the floor, and slowly put the receiver back down on the stand.

What have I done?…

Winry was raped… And yet I did all those things to her… I made her uncomfortable.

I made her suffer.

I dropped down to the floor, and put my head in my hands. "Why didn't she tell me!?" My voice tensed quietly, "God, how can I fix what I've done?"

I vaguely heard the water from the bathroom stop running, and I pulled myself up using the table that had the telephone on it. I had no idea how to react to this. I felt so angry, but sad, yet confused. I wanted to get to the bottom of this, but I also didn't.

I slowly climbed the stairs that suddenly seemed so different, even though they were the same as ever. I stumbled down the hall once again, with my head filled with a million different thoughts.

I got to the bathroom door and knocked a few times.

"Winry… The food is ready," I barely managed to choke out the fat lie. The food really wasn't ready. "What's going on in there?"

"Um, everything's fine… I was just going, um, cut my hair." Her small voice squeaked from the other side.

"I'm coming in…" I opened the door slowly, then stopped suddenly. No matter what my mood or what I'm thinking, I really should start asking before coming in. "You are dressed, right?" I stuttered, still having her image fresh in my mind.

"Um, yeah." She spoke quietly again. I opened the door all the way and scanned the room to find Winry.

She was standing by the sink, wearing a baggy black shirt and shorts. Her hair was still knotted up from drying it, and there were small, crystal like droplets of water rolling down her face. She looked so… I could feel my face heat up a bit, but then I remembered what I can here for. I walked briskly to her, and stood next her. I tried my best to not touch her at all. I didn't want her to hurt more than she already was.

Why couldn't I see the signs?

"I'll cut your hair." I told her in a tone that I thought sounded acceptable.

"Sure…" She replied nonchalantly.

I grabbed the brush and scissors and motioned for her to sit on the floor. She sat down and I kneeled right behind her. She shuddered fiercely. Crap, I shouldn't be so close to her.

"You cold?" I lied again.

She paused for a moment before she responded, "Yeah…" I put the brush on her hair slowly, trying not the startle that much… Or not even at all. I brushed her long hair slowly, until it was untangled. I spoke again, "How short do you want it?" It felt so difficult to get the words out. I felt like everything I was doing, was hurting her. Even just being in this house.

She motioned that she wanted it just below her chin. "Really?" I paused. "It's taken you forever to grow it out though." She just shrugged, and I started cutting. Eat chunk of hair I was cutting, I was worried I was doing something like cutting into her very own soul. I knew it was impossible, but I just didn't want to hurt her.

It took me about ten minutes or so until I was done. It was nothing special; I just cut her hair. She stood up and went to the mirror, reviewing the "finished product", so to speak.

She turned and smiled at me. "Thanks Ed, it looks great." I just looked at her.

I didn't want to harm her, but I had to ask.

It was now or never.

"Everything alright Ed?" She tilted her head, looking back at me, still smiling. I didn't say anything. I just stared at her, trying to make the decision whether to ask or not.

Suddenly, her eyes got as big, like she knew what was coming.

I was going to ask her.

I grabbed her shoulders, in which she jumped in response to my action. Damn, she's going to hate me later for this.

"Why the hell didn't you tell me Winry?!" I glared at her. I wanted an answer. Could I just not be trusted? Or did she have another reason for hiding it? Now it was tears that were rolling down her face, along with other leftover droplets from her still slightly wet hair. I stared at her for a few moments, and as quickly as it came, her wet, sad eyes were suddenly drooped. She looked soulless, almost. Her eyes were now focused on the ground.

"I didn't think it would matter that much to you." She spoke in monotone.

"Not matter to me!??" I yelled, "How can it not matter that my best friend got raped!!" She dropped to the floor, and since I was still holding onto her arms, I fell with her.

"I just didn't want to tell you…" She spoke softly. I used a hand to hold her face, to make her look at me.

"Why, Winry, WHY?" She used her hand to remove it and her eyes averted back to the ground.

She whispered, "Because I loved you too much…"

A/N: Wow! 7 Chapters!! Time goes by so quickly…

Good chapter? Or bad? I know there aren't as many words in here as usual, but it started to sound kinda stuffy in here, so I didn't want to write too much and leave people with the same reaction: "What just happened here? There was too much info." So the time period was the same as Winry experienced in the previous chapter.

I've done some Raped!Winry fanart(NOT GRAPHIC) stuff, just portraying different moments in the story, that I might post later, if people are interested… because you guys so care about what I draw. XD

Hopefully, I'll have the next chapter up soon. I talked to friends about various ideas for the story, and I've got some good, GOOD stuff to use, that will definitely put a twist on things later. Thanks for reading!